Marvel Media Mania: Dr. Strange (2007)

Dr. Strange is a 2007 animated direct-to-DVD movie. It is the origin story of Dr. Strange, updated and reimagined.

This movie has some serious issues. But first, the positives.

I thought the retelling of the origin story was well done. This movie does an good job at introducing someone who has never heard of Dr. Strange to the core concepts of the character. You have all of the critical elements - Mordo, The Ancient One, Wong, and the bad guy, Dormammu. They just drag it out a bit more than it was in the comics and give Dr. Strange more of a back story with his dying sister, April. This gives the viewer a greater understanding of why Dr. Strange is such a jerk. Really, when you think about it, the story is essentially the same story as the Newbery Medal winning novel, Johnny Tremain.

Visually, it is interesting enough. The animation is well done and the character designs are pretty good. They manage to give each magician their own look and reflects their different abilities and personalities. The way the magical powers express themselves is cool like the swords that are drawn out of thin air and using the "eye" amulets to see invisible creatures.

The sequence with Dr. Strange's training in the temple is pretty cool too, especially the wall that he has to tear down every day but rebuilds itself. I also liked the nod they gave fans at the end when they mention (SPOILER) Clea.

Now, not everything is sunshine and roses. Like I said, this movie has some serious problems.

The issue with the characters is that there are so many magicians that, outside of Mordo, Wong, and the Ancient One you don't even learn their names. Now that might be okay if these folks were in the background but they're the primary focus of all the movie's action until the end! You can't even find out their names in the credits because they're not listed. So when you're watching these magicians fight and die you really don't care at all because you don't even know who they are.

Not only doesn't the viewer care about the magician "good guys" they don't care about the villains, either. We don't even see Dormammu until 3/4 of the way through the film. Until then, it's an endless parade of nameless creatures with no backstory whatsoever.

The biggest problem with this movie, however, is that it is very slowly paced. Since the viewer doesn't care about any of the earlier action, the good magicians or the evil creatures we're left with a story that drags on. There's lots of talking that is sure to bore kids. Every point the writers want to get across is beaten to death. We get it. Stephen Strange is a big jerk. We get it. Stephen Strange's hands don't work and nobody can fix them. The flashbacks to Stephen's dying sister, April, while interesting, just slow the movie down even more.

I'm not sure who their target audience was for this movie - kids or adults. The inclusion of some swearing and some disturbing images (such as flying bat-piranha things eating all the flesh from a dozen or so victims leaving a skeleton behind, Dr. Strange's suicide attempt, or a few dozen kids streaming demonic flames out of their mouths) makes me think they were going for an older audience. Also, the general pace of the story and the fact that Dr. Strange is a big, adult jerk who refuses to help sick children in the beginning of the movie would also be turn-offs to children watching. But on the other hand the plot revolves around children and everything is kept uncomplicated so a child could understand it. Either way, I think they missed the mark with this one. The final product is one that neither children nor adults will likely enjoy.

1LR Review - 7 out of 20 - It's a Failure!

Marvel Media Mania: Dr. Strange (1978)

Dr. Strange is a pilot for a failed TV series that originally aired in 1978.

For this pilot, the origins of Dr. Strange are completely reworked. He's not a surgeon - he's a psychiatrist. He doesn't have an accident that scars his hands, Mordo doesn't make an appearance, and the "Ancient One" doesn't live in an isolated monastery. Instead, the "old man," Thomas Lindmer, lives in the city and has had contacts with Strange's dead father as evidenced by the ring Strange wears. It's actually difficult to tell who anybody is suppose to be. I assumed the "old man" was the Ancient One but I don't believe he's ever called that directly. The character of Clea is simply called, "the girl" for most of the movie so when they finally get around to saying her name you wonder who they're talking about. Strange himself comes across as smug because he always wears a smirk on his face. He's not a likable or even a sympathetic character.

Perhaps the worst thing about this pilot is how slow it is. You really don't see any sorcery until about 50 minutes into this 90 minute film. When you're tuning in to a Dr. Strange film you want to see magical combat and cosmic mysteries. Instead what you're given is a very boring episode of E.R. When magic is used it usually manifests itself in ordinary ways such as manipulating animals and people to do certain things.

But when magic requires special effects they are predictably horrible. I can forgive this because it is 1978 but the sock-puppet demon lord is quite laughable. The "old man" character clearly rips off the Jedi Mind Trick from Star Wars which was released the year prior. Likewise, the journey to the Astral Plane looked like it was ripped off from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Much of the plot doesn't make much sense and the writers seem to rely on the catch-all, "Well, that's just how magic works," far too often.

At one point Dr. Strange picks up a Hulk comic and smiles. It's a nice nod to the 1977 live-action The Incredible Hulk show that surely paved the way for Dr. Strange's own pilot. But clearly the creators of Dr. Strange didn't learn any lessons by watching the Hulk show.

1LR Review - 6 out of 20 - It's a Failure!